Employee Benefits

City of Burnet Compensation and Benefit Overview

2024-2025

Below is a summary of the current benefits offered to City of Burnet employees. Full benefit summaries and policies are available in the Human Resources office.

Paid Leave Benefits:

  • Holidays: Full-time employees are eligible to receive Holiday Pay for 13 holidays. 
  • Vacation Leave: Full-time employees are eligible to earn vacation leave upon hire. Employees earn vacation leave in accordance to the approved accrual schedule available in the City of Burnet Personnel Policy Manual. Vacation leave is restricted for the first 90 days after hire. 
  • Sick Leave: Full-time employees are eligible to earn sick leave upon hire. Employees earn sick leave in accordance to the approved accrual schedule available in the City of Burnet Personnel Policy Manual. 
  • Bereavement Leave: The City provides employees with up to three (3) days of bereavement leave.

Compensation Benefits: 

  • Pay periods: Employees are paid on a biweekly basis, resulting in 26 pay periods per year. 
  • Longevity Pay: The amount of longevity pay is determined by the City Council through the budget process and is paid one time per year, currently in December. In order to receive Longevity Pay, all full- and part-time employees must be employed and actively working (not on leave of absence) for the City for three months prior to the date longevity is calculated. 
  • Workers’ Compensation: The City of Burnet provides workers’ compensation insurance coverage for all City employees.
  • Uniforms/Clothing Allowance: The City of Burnet provides employees with uniforms as required by their respective departments. Employees who are not issued or required to wear uniforms are eligible to receive a clothing allowance. 

Employee Benefits:

All full-time employees are eligible to receive the City's benefit package options. Benefits begin first of the month following 60 days of full-time employment. 

All provider links are listed at the bottom of the page.

The City utilizes Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas as our provider for the following coverage options:

Health Insurance: The City offers three (3) plan options for health insurance including a High Deductible HSA PPO, HMO, and PPO Buyup plan. The City covers the employee only cost at 100% for two plan options. Dependent coverage (Spouse, Children, or Family) is partially covered by the City.

  • HSA/FSA: based on the plan selected, employees may be eligible to elect an HSA or FSA. Both accounts allow for pre-tax contributions to be applied to spend on eligible medical, dental and vision expenses. Employees eligible for an HSA receive an employer contribution based on the coverage tier selected. Employer contribution amounts are subject to budget approval. 
  • Dependent Care FSA: this option allows for pre-tax dollars to be contributed into an account to pay for childcare expenses. 

Dental Insurance: The City offers a Dental PPO plan. Employee only premiums are covered at 100%. Dependent coverage costs are the responsibility of the employee. 

Vision Insurance: The City offers a vision plan through the EyeMed program of BCBSTX. Employee and Dependent coverage costs are the responsibility of the employee. 

Life/ADD: The City provides employees with a $50,000 Group Life/ADD policy at no cost to the employee, underwritten by Dearborn, a BCBSTX company partner.

Voluntary Life/ADD: If the employee would like to enroll in additional life insurance outside of the group life policy, voluntary life/ADD are offered.

  • Guarantee Issue: During initial enrollment, employees are eligible to select up to $130,000 in employee life insurance without any evidence of insurability (EOI) medical questionnaires required.
  • Spouse and Child Life: Voluntary life insurance policy options are available for dependents. During initial enrollment, spouse life has a guarantee issue of $30,000. All child life policies are $10,000. 

Disability: The City offers both Long- and Short-term disability insurance to help cover lost income due to an illness or injury. 

  • Short-term Disability: The City provides a voluntary option for short-term disability. Employees are responsible for the premium.
  • Long-term Disability: The City provides long-term disability at no cost to the employee. 

Employee Assistance Program: All City employees and their families are eligible to utilize the EAP program resources. The program is through ComPsych, a BCBSTX company partner.

The City of Burnet provides all employees with a telemedicine benefit program that allows for all members of an employees household, regardless of enrollment in the City's insurance, to have access to virtual primary care physicians for a $0.00 Copay.

  • The provider for this coverage is New Benefits. Coverage is separate from the City Insurance. 
  • Additional benefits of the membership include Basic Legal Service support and a Health Advocacy program. 
    • Legal Services will help with will preparation, contract review, and other basic legal services.
    • Health Advocacy helps employees negotiate bills and cost compare needed services, like medical imaging or other costly expenses, to ensure best value and best service.

The following benefit coverage options are available to full-time employees. Providers vary by coverage type.

Critical Illness: Critical Illness coverage provides partial reimbursement for expenses related to major medical conditions such as organ failure, heart, lung, and neurological disorders, heart attack, stroke and other similar major medical events or conditions. 

Accident: Accident coverage provides partial reimbursement for expenses related to the treatment of illnesses or injuries due to an accident. Examples of coverage include concussion testing, treatment of bone breaks/fractures, hospital or emergency room expenses, ambulance transports and some exams or testing for injuries. 

Cancer: Cancer coverage provides partial reimbursement for expenses related to the prevention and/or treatment of, or recovery from a cancer diagnosis. 

Retirement Benefits

Texas Municipal Retirement System

All full-time City employees are required to participate in the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS).

  • Employees contribute 7% of their gross pay each paycheck.
  • The City of Burnet matches employee contributions 2:1. To receive employer contributions, employees MUST meet the vesting requirement. 
  • 10-year vesting period.
  • Employees are retirement eligible under the following conditions:
    • 20 years of active, full-time public service.
    • At age 60 with any amount of service, but must have at least 10 years of public service to receive employer match contributions.
  • Other plan provisions include:
    • Occupational disability retirement
    • Credit for prior service in full-time public employment in the United States.
    • Military service credit.

Deferred Compensation (457) Plan

The City offers a Deferred Compensation (457) Plan through a Third-Party Plan Administrator. Deferred compensation is a retirement savings account. Through payroll deduction, employees can contribute a “pre-tax” portion of their salary. The maximum contributions are set by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) each year in October.

Provider Links:

 

PDF icon 2024-2025 Employee Benefits Guide (23 MB)
PDF icon 2024-2025 Holiday and Payroll Schedule (189 KB)
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